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Thesis Ressentiment : an anatomy AESCHBACH, Sébastien Abstract The topic of the dissertation is the affective phenomenon called ressentiment. Its aim is to provide a detailed account of its nature, an operational definition of the phenomenon, and a careful description of its relation to emotions, self-regarding attitudes, and values. The first task is to distinguish ressentiment from resentment, indignation, anger and hatred. A phenomenological analysis shall then provide us with an exhaustive description of this mechanism, of its relation to emotions such as envy, revenge or hatred, and of its relation to more immediate feelings of inferiority or impotence. Ressentiment alters our axiological judgements. This constitutes its most salient characteristic and is called the reevaluation process. We shall here distinguish two kinds of ressentiment based on the difference between judgement-alterations that are value-devaluations and alterations which are merely object-devaluations. We call these forms strong and weak ressentiment, respectively. In the last parts of the dissertation, we confront our theory with standard accounts of self-deception and sociological theories about the causal [...] Reference AESCHBACH, Sébastien. Ressentiment : an anatomy. Thèse de doctorat : Univ. Genève, 2017, no. L. 909 DOI : 10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:103621 URN : urn:nbn:ch:unige-1036215 Available at: http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:103621 Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version. 1 / 1 RESSENTIMENT – AN ANATOMY SEBASTIAN AESCHBACH THÈSE DE DOCTORAT ÈS LETTRES UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE DIRECTEUR DE THÈSE: PROFESSEUR KEVIN MULLIGAN, UNIVERSITÀ DELLA SVIZZERA ITALIANA, UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE PRÉSIDENT DU JURY: PROFESSEUR FABRICE TERONI, UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE JURY: PROFESSEUR JULIEN DEONNA, UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE DR. INGRID VENDRELL FERRAN, FRIEDRICH-SCHILLER-UNIVERSITÄT JENA PROFESSOR PETER POELLNER, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK Université de Genève Ressentiment – An Anatomy Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................9 2 WHAT IS RESENTMENT?............................................................................................14 2.1 A definition of resentment (and indignation)....................................................................14 2.1.1 Anger and resentment...................................................................................................................... 14 2.1.2 Resentment, blame, and injustice................................................................................................ 20 2.1.3 The objects of resentment.............................................................................................................. 28 2.1.4 Resentment versus indignation.................................................................................................... 30 2.1.5 Kinds of resentment.......................................................................................................................... 37 2.2 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................40 3 WHAT IS RESSENTIMENT?..........................................................................................42 3.1 The experience of ressentiment...............................................................................................46 3.1.1 What does ressentiment feels like?............................................................................................. 52 Feelings of impotence and inferiority............................................................................................................ 52 Ressentiment-emotions...................................................................................................................................... 54 Repression and reliving....................................................................................................................................... 56 Envy and the desire for revenge...................................................................................................................... 63 Reevaluation............................................................................................................................................................ 71 3.1.2 The objects of hostile emotions and ressentiment...............................................................72 3.1.3 Frustration, impotence and inferiority......................................................................................75 3.1.4 Self-regarding attitudes................................................................................................................... 84 3.1.5 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................. 92 3.2 Ressentiment as a reevaluation mechanism.......................................................................94 3.2.1 Values and the experience of value – some distinctions....................................................96 3.2.2 Weak forms of ressentiment.......................................................................................................111 3.2.3 Strong forms of ressentiment..................................................................................................... 119 3.2.4 Is ressentiment rational?.............................................................................................................. 127 3.2.5 From repressed hostility to moral emotions........................................................................143 Indignation............................................................................................................................................................ 145 Resentment............................................................................................................................................................ 150 3.3 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................156 4 RESSENTIMENT AND THE SELF................................................................................159 - 2 - Université de Genève Ressentiment – An Anatomy 4.1 Standard accounts of self-deception....................................................................................161 4.2 The possible objects of ressentiment’s self-deception.................................................170 4.3 Hypocrisy and internalisation................................................................................................179 4.3.1 Hypocrisy............................................................................................................................................ 180 4.3.2 Internalisation.................................................................................................................................. 183 4.4 Ressentiment.................................................................................................................................188 4.5 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................197 5 THE MORAL STATUS OF RESSENTIMENT (AND RESENTMENT)...............................199 5.1 The moral status of resentment............................................................................................203 5.2 The moral status of ressentiment.........................................................................................214 5.3 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................233 6 SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF RESSENTIMENT.................................................235 6.1 Ressentiment and social configurations............................................................................240 6.2 Ressentiment and revolutions................................................................................................252 6.3 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................256 7 GENERAL CONCLUSION............................................................................................258 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................... 264 - 3 - Université de Genève Ressentiment – An Anatomy - 4 - Université de Genève Ressentiment – An Anatomy ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My greatest gratitude goes to Kevin Mulligan. I owe him many invaluable insights. His broad knowledge remains a constant source of admiration and inspiration and I am extremely grateful to him for having instilled in me the pas - sion for philosophy and realist phenomenology. I have also benefited from the friendship of and many insightful exchanges with Ingrid Vendrell Ferran, Arnaud Pictet, Mathias Glayre, Jorge Vinuales, Simon Brunschwig, Emmanuel Abbé, Olivier Massin, Federico Lauria and Alain Pé-Curto. My special gratitude, finally, goes to my wife Maryna and my young daughter Emma whose patience and support have been essential. - 5 - Université de Genève Ressentiment – An Anatomy ABBREVIATIONS MAX SCHELER RAM: Ressentiment im Aufbau der Moralen [1915]: Ressentiment, translated by COVER,